Cats Were My Gateway Drug

Anybody that loves animals and loves having pets has one animal that probably started the downward spiral into an apartment/condo/house/street corner filled with pets. I'm not talking about Animal Hoarders filled because that is just vile and is something I can't even stand to watch on tv. I'm talking about anyone that got (hopefully adopted) a pet and then just wanted one more...but still has the willpower to stop, stand back and realize "whoa whoa whoa...there is no way I can adopt another animal right now. My current ratio of humans to iguana/kitten/ ferret/mini horses is just right!" My gateway pets were Luigi and Sofia. I got them when I was 24 and was less than responsible. I spent most of my weekends drinking in Portsmouth. The great thing about cats is that they are relatively easy to care for. I could leave for a day or two knowing they would be OK and love me even more when I got back. Eventually, this led to wanting a dog. Enter Ollie and my almost obsession with shelters, animal rescue, dogs and cats. I love Ollie, Luigi and Sofia to the moon and back and would love to get another dog (read: blue and white female pitbull) to round out the bunch. You know, even the score for Ollie. Give him a buddy/girlfriend to romp around with and another warm body to help me with heat bills in the winter. Two cats and two dogs sounds perfect. Plus I fall in love with a new dog every week at Cocheco. Thankfully, I have the wherewithal to know that getting/adopting another pet (with the exception of a pet rock) would be downright asinine right now. I can just barely squeak by with the vet bills/food costs of three and would be bankrupt with four. On top of that, I would lose my f'n mind roughly 135 times a day. Too. Many. Animals. This of course has never stopped me from searching endlessly on Petfinder, Adopt A Pet and local shelters for the perfect # 4...you know, just in case. This tends to be heartbreaking seeing dogs still on these websites weeks and months after you originally spotted them. To curb my sadness I imagine the families they will get adopted into and how happy they will be. Sometimes I take weeks off from doing this because it just gets too tough. Inevitably, I come crawling back looking for my next perfect pittie fix because like any good gateway drug you're always craving something more...just a little bit more...just one more and then I will quit I promise. Gateway cats...they're dangerous.

Perfect Quote

I've gotten sucked into several stories of horrible animal cruelty/abuse that have made the news and/or FB pages. The kind that you see and you actually lose your breath because the pictures are so disturbing and sick. The most recent story was about a dog (Patrick) that was starved to the brink of death and then thrown down a trash shoot. He is doing ok now and looks like he will make a full recovery, but it gets to me. The sick things that humans can do to defenseless animals eats at my brain. I don't get it nor do I ever want to. With that being said, I wont ever stop advocating for animals and trying to make the world a better place. This quote perfectly sums up my reaction and thoughts when I read these stories of abuse, cruelty and torment. They deserve it : "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion" ~Unknown